Friday, January 7, 2011

The views of a prominent member of the sexual grievance industry cause for alarm

One of the most prominent sexual assault counselors on the international stage is Dr. Kim McGregor of New Zealand. Her views are tainted with unfortunate and unnecessary misandry that distract from her work. Her words speak for themselves.Custodial Sentences: 'No' For False Rape Accusers; 'Yes' For Rapists

*Dr. McGregor, director of New Zealand’s Rape Prevention Education, does not believe in custodial sentences for false rape accusers. When a 17-year-old New Zealand girl was arrested after falsely claiming that she was dragged off by three youths and sexually assaulted at knifepoint, Dr. McGregor was quoted regarding false rape complainants: “I would recommend some form of therapeutic intervention rather than charging them.” Dr. McGregor claims that “someone needed to be ‘pretty distressed’ to make a false allegation of sexual assault,” and that “very few women made false complaints as a form of revenge.”

*Consider Dr. McGregor's quote in the news story about this case: Michelle Anne Taruka Grafton, 19, a student, admitted her claims of being forced into a car, tied to a bed, and repeatedly raped by a man she knew were false, but she did it because she liked the attention. In fact, she and the man had had a brief liaison on the night in question but had spent most of the evening watching television with the man's flatmate. The hapless man Grafton accused was contacted by police on Christmas Eve and asked to make a statement. The lies made him sick. Then, with the investigation hanging over the innocent man's head, Grafton hopped on a plane and went away on holiday to Australia for a month. The innocent man was left to stew in a state comparable to hell: "I didn't know if I was going to be charged. I was going a bit stir crazy, I couldn't function. I was being accused of something that was out of this world." Finally, Grafton returned and admitted her lie. What was Kim McGregor's reaction? According to the news account: "Dr Kim McGregor said false complaints were rare. 'We treat people who have made false allegations with compassion because there's always a question mark over other issues being played out,' she said. McGregor said 90 per cent of rapes were not reported."

*She's also been quoted as saying that false rape allegations were often triggered by traumatic experiences and she questioned the benefit of prosecution in such cases. And: "False rape complaints were often 'a call for help' and could indicate some type of past trauma . . . ."

*Dr. McGregor has no such compassion for men convicted of sex offenses. For them, she does believe in custodial sentences. She believes they need to be held accountable for their actions because otherwise, they won't change, and if they aren't held accountable, it won't deter other sex offenders.

*She once said: "We are already frequently disappointed in the length of sentences for sexual violence. Sentences do not appear to be in line with the severity of the crime."

*When a prominent New Zealand entertainer drunkenly exposed himself and forced a 16-year-old female's face into his genitals, the judge ruled that the consequences of a conviction and publicly naming the man would be out of proportion to the gravity of the offence. Dr. McGregor criticized the ruling, saying that without a sanction there's nothing to stop him offending again. She also said that unless those around the offender know what he has done they can't watch him, and that makes him a danger. She noted: "The fact that this man hasn't had his name released means that it's not going to be safe because it's only when a person is known and named that people in the community can watch and observe that person that the rest of the community is safe." (Note that these concerns have no application to false rape accusers.)

*Another time, Dr. McGregor attacked a decision to give a child sex offender early release from prison. She said: "This paltry sanction sends a clear signal to the thousands of child sex offenders throughout New Zealand that they can pretty much continue to sexually offend against our children without very much in the way of interruption or penalty." (But, somehow, failing to charge false rape accusers will not send a message to other false accusers that they can lie with impunity.)

*Another time, a man insisted on representing himself in a rape trial even though psychiatric reports said he displayed features of a severe personality disorder with antisocial narcissistic and paranoid features. The man was found guilty but was later given a new trial because he was unfit to defend himself. Whether the man was actually capable of defending himself didn't seem to matter to Dr. McGregor. According to the news account: Rape Crisis director Dr Kim McGregor said the case was re-victimising the victim. She said it was [the man's]choice to represent himself and he was deemed fit to make that decision."

Mitigating Factors: False Rape Accusers Versus Rapists

*Dr. McGregor is on record as saying that substance abuse is no excuse for committing any crime, let alone one of a sexual nature against an innocent woman, and that a sentencing the offender should not take into account that he was on the drug P at the time of the offending.

*Dr. McGregor seemed far more sympathetic when a female drug and alcohol abuser was being sentenced for a false rape claim. She said: "If there's alcohol involved, or drugs, there may be a confusion between historic issues that have been unresolved and a current need for help."

McGregor Accepts Sexual Grievance Industry Mantras

Dr. McGregor buys into the mantras repeated with zombie-like repetition by the sexual grievance industry.

*She says that "less than 10% of crimes of sexual violence are reported to police, and of that small number only about 10 in 100 cases will (see) the sex offender convicted."

*Dr McGregor says that 50% of females who seek help from mental health services have experienced sexual violence.

*When a man who owns several pornography businesses said he was giving away pornographic DVDs because "there is a lot of evidence that ready access to porn actually reduces the incidence of rape and other sexual offences," Dr. McGregor expressed outrage: "Kim McGregor . . . said the sector was working with high numbers of sexual violence cases 'day in, day out, year after year. And then we have to try and counter these ridiculous claims'." (In fact, Dr. Christopher J. Ferguson of Texas A&M has said this: ". . . pornography is no more linked to rape than violent games are to violent crimes. Researchers have long known that rape rates have gone down in the U.S. as pornography consumption has increased. Rapists typically consume less pornography and are exposed to it later than non-rapist men.")

*Dr. McGregor took issue with a British study that drink-spiking with date-rape drugs is an urban myth. A Kent University study of more than 200 students found many women blamed the effects of a "bad night out" on date-rape drugs when they had drunk excessively. The researchers said many young people were in "active denial" that drinking could leave them incoherent and incapacitated. According to the news report: "But New Zealand Rape Prevention Education director Kim McGregor dismissed the researchers' findings saying she knew of women who had been left permanently disabled as a result of date-drug spiking."

*Dr. McGregor worries about gendered violence during the World Rugby Cup. It is "inevitable" that there will be "many extra rape survivors," she said.

Scrap the Adversarial System for Rape, Adopt an Inquisitorial System

*When police officers accused of sex offenses were found "not guilty" at trial, Dr. McGregor said that the complainant in the case would be shattered by the result. She used the occasion to favor scrapping the adversarial system that is a hallmark of our criminal justice system. According to the news account: "There had to be a change from the adversarial system that pitted one person against another in terms of their credibility, she said. Dr McGregor would like to see an inquisitorial form where both parties must answer questions in court."

*But the new inquisition for rape needs to be wary of male judges who would interview women and children. "Rape Prevention Education director Kim McGregor agrees that the gender of the interviewer may increase a victim's anxiety, but says this could be avoided by the way the interviewer questions the victim."